iPad mini: Like Big iPod touch

Are you ready for Apple to turn the tablet market on its head, again? Rumors and smart people thinking smart thoughts are putting flesh on the mothership’s long-rumored and soon expected iPad mini, which could look a lot like a big iPod touch. And, after all, that was what the original iPad was supposed to look like.

9 to 5 Mac, without saying who they are repeating, claims the iPad mini will be built around a 7.85-inch LCD with a consistent with the past 4:3 aspect ratio. Going around that will be a thin bezel that is very much like the iPod touch.

According to their write up, such a design will help make the iPad mini — some expect to be introduced day and date with the iPhone 5 — easy to hold, lighter, cheaper and convenient for purses and (big) pockets.

John Gruber, for his part, seconds the thought in saying, “But if you shrink the device enough, and reduce the weight enough, would such a device still need a bezel surrounding the display of the same proportions as the iPad-as-we-know-it? Maybe not.”

To whit, the Daring Fireball goes on to talk, talk and talk some more about why the iPad mini will have a thinner bezel and share design elements with Apple’s iPod touch, which itself is expected to get a major makeover and arrive with a 4-inch display sometime this Fall (not shown above).

As is often the case with unreleased Apple products, their size, shape and features come into focus by piecing together rumors and leaked parts.

So, will the iPad mini really be the long fabled iPod touch on steroids? That has always sounded like a good idea to me…